our story 💫 (jopper fanfic) COMPLETED

halfway happy.

that night

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joyce couldn't sleep. it was 12 am. god, why can't she fall asleep already?! maybe she's thinking about hopper too much. she decided to get up and get a drink of water to help her fall asleep. she crept into the kitchen, grabbed a drink, and snuck back in her room and got in bed again. when she got in bed, el appeared at her door. 

"hey kiddo, what are you doing up?" she asked. "i can't fall asleep." el said rubbing her eyes. "me either. here, come lay in bed with me." joyce said patting the bed. el sat on the bed. "i've just been up all night...thinking, i guess. i just can't believe my dad could actually still be alive." said el. "i think that's what's keeping me up too." joyce said while rubbing el's back. "yeah. halfway happy." el replied. "what?" joyce asked. "half way happy. i'm happy that dad is alive, but i'm not happy that's keeping me awake. halfway happy. my dad and i always said that." said el. joyce smiled. "i know you miss him. we're going to find him, okay? he's going to be back. soon." joyce answered. "promise?" el asked. "promise." said joyce bringing her into a hug. 

"you wanna know some funny stories about your dad? because i have a lot." joyce asked with a laugh. "yes of course!" replied el, laughing. "well, i remember this one time in middle school when we did jumping jacks for our warm-up at the beginning of gym class. he didn't do them because he thought he was too cool, that's your dad. the gym teacher made him do 20 jumping jacks in front of the whole class." "the whole class?!" "yup! and i remember this one time in middle school where he asked the teacher 'can i go to the bathroom?' and then the teacher said 'it's may.' and then hopper said 'no, it's february.' he got dentition for apparently being disrespectful to a teacher. your dad was a jokester, that's for sure. he liked to put thumbtacks on teachers chairs and play pranks on them. he loves to put fake snakes on teachers desks and then watch the teachers scream when they saw them. in high school, he got a detention on a saturday for about four hours! it was like that new movie breakfast club! he always got in trouble, your father." 

then joyce told el about when hopper punched alexis lopez in third grade to stand up for joyce. " he really did that for you?" asked el. "yeah, yeah he did." then joyce told all the great things that hopper did. like when he threw her that big surprise birthday party, and when he bought her that necklace. "you guys dated?!" el asked excitedly. joyce laughed. "yup. for a long time actually." "i knew it!! i knew it, i knew it, i knew it!!" el said giggling. joyce laughed. el wanted to know everything about joyce and hopper's relationship. and joyce told her almost everything... she left out a few parts, including the pregnancy of course. gosh, it just occurred to her that she never even told hopper that...

el loved listening to all of her many stories about her father. "yeah, i have a lot of stories about him. but it's getting kind of late, so i'll tell you the rest in the morning, ok?" joyce said.el nodded. "you wanna sleep here with me tonight?" joyce asked. "sure!" el exclaimed as they both laid down. 

"i'm glad you told me, by the way. about hopper. it's been hard on all of us, but especially you." said joyce. "yeah it's been really hard without him here." el said nodding. "never loose sight of how strong and brave you are, my girl. i love you." joyce said. el looked at her. "i love you too, mom. thank you. for everything. i've always wanted a mom, and i thought it would never happen." el said. "i've always i wanted a daughter, and i thought it would never happen." joyce replied with a laugh. they both stared each other for a minute. 

"he loves you too." el whispered. 

"what?" joyce asked. 

"hopper. he loves you too. good night." el said before closing her eyes.

for the first time in a long time, the byers family went to sleep happy.

a/n: hey guys!! i would just like to give a shout-out to my friend @ysabelle_312 she is an amazing friend and writer so go follow her and give her some love! ❤️